What Happened
Igor Shesterkin scored into an empty net with 2:34 remaining, becoming the first New York Rangers goaltender to record a goal, and the Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-1 at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night. Mika Zibanejad opened the scoring on the power play less than six minutes in. Pavel Dorofeyev and Eeli Tolvanen each scored their first goal with their new team, and Gabe Perreault deflected in a shot by Adam Fox. Shesterkin stopped 24 of 25 shots.
Key Details
- Shesterkin is the 18th goalie in NHL history to score a goal.
- It was the 21st goal by a goalie in league history counting the playoffs.
- Shesterkin scored with 2:34 remaining in the third period.
- Andrei Vasilevskiy allowed four goals on 24 shots.
- Nikita Kucherov scored Tampa Bay's only goal, off the skate of Noah Laba.
What It Means
The win was a sharp contrast to the Rangers' home start a season earlier, when they went nearly 181 minutes without a goal at MSG and became the first team in league history to be shut out in its first three home games. New York had also been blanked 3-0 on the road at Boston on Tuesday night before breaking out against one of the league's top goaltenders.